Electronic payments may be performed in a variety of ways. A payment terminal may process payment transactions, and may interact with payment devices such as a payment card having a magnetic strip that is swiped in a magnetic reader of the payment terminal, a payment device having a Europay/Mastercard/Visa (EMV) chip that is inserted into a corresponding EMV slot of the payment terminal, and near field communication (NFC) enabled devices such as a smartphone or EMV card that is tapped at the payment terminal and transmits payment information over a secure wireless connection. The payment terminal may receive payment information from the payment device as well information about a transaction, and may communicate this information to a payment system for processing of the transaction.
At various times, conditions may occur that prevent the payment terminal from communicating with a payment server for completing a payment transaction. The conditions may be caused by a failure of a communication link between the payment terminal and payment server, such as a faulty network connection. At other times, a payment terminal may be unable to transmit information for approval by the payment server, such as when a connection between payment terminal and server experiences a high latency. In some instances, these conditions can lead to lengthy delays in payment processing times if payment processing cannot be completed until the payment terminal may transmit payment information to a server. Users of the payment terminal and consumers completing a payment transaction may lose patience if a delay is sufficiently lengthy. Delays during payment transactions may result in annoyance for customers seeking to complete transactions and reduced transaction volumes for merchants.
In addition, payment terminals experiencing a high payment transaction volume may experience significant delays, even when communication between a payment device and payment server, such as a server located at a financial institution, occurs quickly. Transaction durations may be affected by the amount of time a payment terminal requires to read electronic payment information from a payment device. Sometimes, a delay may occur based on a type of payment device used to complete a payment transaction. For example, some payment cards (e.g., a chip card) must remain physically inserted into a payment terminal while processing occurs. Delays in processing of payment card transactions may create particular discomfort or friction during payment transactions.